News - February 2021 RSS Feed

This Lent, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis will join together to reflect on the Scriptural Stations of the Cross that were celebrated by St. John Paul II. Through 14 Podcasts, the listener will have an opportunity to practice the three pillars of Lent – Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Each reflection will be led by priests from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. The Walking with Christ Podcasts will air in English, Spanish, as well as in American Sign Language on YouTube. New “Walking With Christ” podcasts will be uploaded every Tuesday and Thursday of Lent, and can be found by searching for “Walking With Christ” on the Apple Podcast app and Spotify app, or by following the link to SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/walkingwithchrist. Additional Lenten resources, as well as recordings of the podcasts, can be found at https://www.archindy.org/lent/podcast.html.

I know that we have many more vehicles on our 3-8 side during our dismissal process. When getting in line for dismissal, the back of the line should not extend past the school building. If the first line backs up to far, then vehicles are not able to pass through to get access to other dismissal lines. Please continue to a different line, if the first couple of lines are full. Please do your part in helping our dismissal procedure run smoothly.

This is a friendly reminder for morning drop off. If your child needs help getting out of the car, please park your car in the middle parking spaces, help them out, and walk your child to the door. You should not exit the vehicle while in the car line, this can disrupt the flow of the line. We appreciate your help in this matter.

We hope that the winter weather is behind us and we can get back to some sense of normalcy. As always, we appreciate your support and patience during these winter weather events. We want to give a huge shout out to our maintenance crew for clearing the pathways and entrances to the building. This has been on ongoing job and one that is not easy. We know they will be glad that the snow is gone.

The Lenten Season is here and the Men’s Club will be hosting their Fish Fry during Lent. The Fish Fry will be take out only and a limited menu. Please show your support for our Men’s Club and enjoy some delicious food! The Fish Fry will be five Fridays during Lent: February 19, February 26, March 5, March 12, and March 19.

Decisions are never easy to make, especially when dealing with winter weather. Please know that safety is always the top priority in making decisions regarding closings and delays. Many factors are taken into consideration when making the decision to delay or close school. I am very thankful that we have the opportunity to virtual learn when school is closed and students are able to continue the learning process. We have been able to prepare by sending home necessary materials and Chromebooks. Please make sure your child(ren) access Google Classroom during virtual learning and complete all assignments including Special Area Classes. I appreciate all of your support during this wintery time.

We were not able to celebrate our out of uniform day for Pre-Registration forms that were turned in. We will now have our out of uniform day on Tuesday, February 23. If you have not turned in your Pre-Registration, please do so as soon as possible. We are now enrolling new students for next year, and it is important to save your child(ren) spot for the school year.

I know many of you have seen that the Indiana State Health Department has put out new guidelines for schools regarding quarantine guidelines. The CDC and ISDH recommend the 14-day quarantine as the safest option for a close contact. But they are now giving the option of the 10-day quarantine and a 7-day quarantine. At this time, we will continue to follow at least a 10-day quarantine for students and teachers who have been considered close contacts. If a student or teacher is considered a close contact and they do not develop symptoms they may use the 10-day quarantine. When they return to school they must continue to follow social distancing guidelines and wear a mask at all times. In these cases, they may not participate in athletics or extra-curricular activities if these activities require them to remove their mask. They may resume athletics or extra-curricular activities after the 14-day quarantine. As a school we do not plan to use the 7-day quarantine at this time. We strongly believe that the 10-day to 14-day quarantine is the safest option for our school community. I know the quarantine guidelines can be very confusing. Please contact me if your child or someone in your household has been considered a close contact, so that we can discuss the best options for your family. The Health Department has also changed the definition of a close contact in the classroom setting only. They have reduced the distance to 3 ft instead of 6 ft, if ALL students are wearing masks at ALL times in the classroom setting. Each classroom setting is unique and if contact tracing is necessary, we take many variables into consideration when identifying close contacts.